Evaporator distributor head



Aug. 9, 1938. E. WITZEL EVAPORATOR DISTRIBUTOR HEAD Filed July 14, 1937 5353/32! 23 9168 ii/Zorn Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES EVAPORATOR DISTRIBUTOR HEAD Ernst Witzel, Racine, Wis., assignor to Young Radiator Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application July 14, 1937, Serial No. 153,626

' 6 Claims.

Modern evaporators are made in from two to 12 or more separate sections. It is desirable to distribute the refrigerant equally into each section. This is difilcult to accomplish because of the nature of refrigerants. They are not always completely in liquid state when they reach the distributor, the pressure varies considerably and is frequently controlled by valves operating on the on-and-oifprinciple and when otherwise controlled the pressure and supply is erratic and uncertain as to the amount of gas mixed with the liquid refrigerants.

' The object of the present invention is toprovide a very simple, light and easily manufactured distributor head which may be easily connected to the various coils and .to the supply,

and a head which will distribute the refrigerant.

improved distributor head taken on line l-l of Figure 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical elevation of my improved distributor head taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a top view having the cap removed and illustrating my improved distributor head having eight outlets instead of four.

Fig. 4 illustrates a vertically sectioned view of a modification.

In Figure 2 I have shown a fraction of a four section evaporator which is, in its entirety, designated by reference character A. This evaporator has four separate coils -the top coil being shown fractionally.

The evaporator 00113 as illustrated each consists of tube l0 having fins II and the expanded end l2 by means of which the various coils are connected through suitable loops.

I prefer to mount the various coils at each end in header plates l3 as illustrated, and secure the expanded ends of each of the coils to this plate. The inlet ends of the coils however are supplied with a sleeve M with which to make connections with the various refrigerant supply tubes. Each individual section a of an evaporator has an inlet as shown.

My improved distributor head consists of a bottom member l5 through the center of which the inlet tube l6 extends terminating preferably as at IT, this tube at its inlet end being supplied with a suitable elbow I8.

I provide outlet openings 20, 2|, 22 and 23 which are evenly spaced around the inlet tube as illustrated in the various figures. The individual evaporator coils are connected to these head outlets by means of tubes 24, 25, 2B and 21. I supply preferably a round in cross section cylinder 30 having a cap 3| thus forming a chamber .which must clearly be positioned slightly above the highest evaporator coil as illustrated in Figure 2.

In Figures 1 and 2 I illustrate a distributor head having 4 outlets and in Figure 3 I illustrate a distributor head having 8 outlets. Thus it will be seen from these figures that any reasonable number of outlets may be provided.

I provide partition walls 32 as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. These walls are exactly alike and fabricated so as to fill the space in the chamber contacting each other as at 33 which point is concentric with inlet tube l6. These partitions radiate outwardly from point 33 and answer to separate the outlets or to form sepa-' rate connections from inlet tube IE to the individual outlets. I preferably extend these partition walls into the tube l6 as illustrated in Figure 2, these extensions terminating as at 34. Thus the beginning of the inlet to the various outlets is at 34 and each occupying an equal area of tube l6; thus as the refrigerant rises in tube l6 these partitions at 34 will separate the refrigerant into equal volumes and it will then pass directly into the outlets.

In Figure 2 I have illustrated the top evaporator coil as being connected to outlet 20 by means of tube 24. The top evaporator coil may be very little below the bottom of the distributor head and the bottom coil may be a considerable distance below the distributor head in the type of evaporator shown. Therefore the longer tubes might possibly act as syphons; thus to unbalance the quantity of refrigerant fed into the coils.

In the present invention I prevent this syphoning effect by removing a small portion of the partitions, preferably at their corners as at 35. Thus the pressure or vacuum in each of the spaces formed by partitions 32 will always remain the same. 1 p

In installations where the elbow I8 is close to the head, centrifugal action may cause the refrigerant as it enters tube [6, to hug the far side of the wall of the tube. In order to insure against thus unbalancing the refrigerant I provide a spiral 3| which will cause the refrigerant to be agitated and whirled around the periphery of the tube and evenly distribute the refrigerant between the partitions at II.

In Figure 4 I illustrate a modification wherein the side wall and bottom of the chamber are cast integral having a cap 40 thus forming an enclosure similar to that shown in Figure 2; differing only in the position of the outlets ll, of which there may be any suitable number. In this design however these outlets are slightly differently positioned and they diverge outwardly somewhat thus to provide more room between the tubes for bonded or for screw threaded couplings.

Having thus shown and described my invention I claim:

1. An evaporator distributor head comprising a vertically positioned chamber having a horizontally positioned bottom, a refrigerant inlet tube centrally positioned in said bottom, refrigerant outlet tubes in said bottom being evenly spaced around said inlet, vertically positioned partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet and dividing the space in said chamber into individual passageways between said inlet and outlets, said partitions having portions removed attheir upper edges to thereby form vents between said individual passageways.

2. An evaporator distributor head comprising a vertically positioned chamber having a horizontally positioned bottom, a refrigerant inlet tube positioned centrally in said bottom, refrigerant outlet tubes in said bottom being evenly spaced around said inlet, partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet and dividing the space in said chamber into individual passageways between said inlet and outlets, said inlet having means adapted to cause the refrigerant to travel spirally therein.

3. A distributing head of the class described, 7

comprising an inverted cap having a bottom to thereby form a chamber, a refrigerant inlet tube positioned centrally in said bottom, refrigerant outlet tubes in said bottom being evenly spaced around said inlet, partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet and dividing the space in said cap into individual channels between said inlet and outlets, said partitions extending a distance into said inlet.

4. A distributor head of the class described, comprising a vertically positioned chamber having a horizontally positioned bottom, a refrigerant inlet tube centrally positioned in and extending vertically a distance above said bottom, a number of outlet openings in said bottom being equally spaced around said inlet tube, partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet tube dividing the space in said chamber into independent channels from said inlet to said outlet tubes.

5. A distributor head of the class described, comprising a chamber having a horizontally positioned bottom, a centrally positioned refrigerant inlet tube in said bottom and extending vertically a distance into said chamber, a number of tube outlets in said bottom being equally spaced around said inlet tube, partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet tube and dividing the space in said chamber into independent channels between said inlet and outlets, said partitions extending a distance into the end of said inlet tube.

' 6. A distributor head of the class described, comprising a chamber having a horizontally positioned bottom, a refrigerant inlet tube centrally positioned in said bottom and extending a distance into said chamber, a number of outlet tubes in said bottom being equally spaced around .said inlet tube, partition walls radiating from the center of said inlet tube dividing the space in said chamber into independent channels between the end of said inlet tube and outlets, said partitions having portions removed at their tops to thus form passageways between said channels.

ERNST WITZEL. 

